


What He Didn't Anticipate

by Riddle_Me_This_Darling



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Photographer, Crossdressing, Lingerie, Lust at First Sight, M/M, Male Slash, Older Man/Younger Man, Thomas Is A Model, bisexual awakening
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-10-29 22:16:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10863183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riddle_Me_This_Darling/pseuds/Riddle_Me_This_Darling
Summary: Modern AU: John Bates is a veteran photographer who receives a mysterious request from his friend, Edith Crawley. He has no idea who or what he will be photographing, or why. After everything he had experienced in his life, everything he had seen, John thought shock would be beyond him. He's in for a surprise and will soon learn a thing or two about himself that has been lying dormant for years.





	1. Tuesday 2nd May

**Author's Note:**

> WHAT HAVE I DONE NOW?
> 
> You'll have to see.
> 
> With this story, you're just going to have to accept that my mind conjured up this ridiculous concept.  
> Make like a stone and roll.

* * *

 

 

It started with a text.

 

_R u busy? I need to call you. :)_

_E xx_

 

Before John could even type a response, his phone rang.

 

 

* * *

 

 

It was Tuesday 2nd May, 2017 and he was standing on a street corner in Stratford with his phone pressed to his ear.

“It’s Edith,” the caller greeted.

“I know, we have this wonderful thing now called caller ID,” John quipped.

Edith was Lady Edith Crawley, an up and coming journalist and part-time freelance photographer. They had met seven months ago when Edith had contacted John to offer her adoration, and to query whether he would have been interested in collaborating on a shoot with a band called the Kooks. John hadn’t heard of them, frankly hadn’t given two shits about who the hell they were but a job was a job and now that he was getting older and was no considered to be particularly ‘hip’, he was struggling to find work for the first time in his career. Edith had been sweet, surprising snarky and had potential, and John liked her immensely. Her wealthy parents and elder sister (a favourite of the Daily Mail newspaper) apparently weren’t too keen on her bohemian lifestyle choices, so John took the girl under his wing and the pair had developed a firm friendship. She’d even set him up on a couple of dates with a few of her mother’s friends, none of which had gone well. The most recent set-up had been with a relative and it went disastrously, so he now owed Edith, apparently.

“John, I need a favour,” Edith said bluntly. “Since you owe me –“

“I’ll stop you right there,” John interrupted, “I’m not making any promises unless you tell me exactly what the shoot will be, if this is about a shoot?”

“Yes, it is, now don’t interrupt” she reproved mildly. “It will be a job that you’ll find…interesting. Are you free on the 8th, Monday?”

“Yes. Interesting you say?” John scoffed. “Like the last interesting shoot where I photographed your father’s dog for three hours? Or the time when you had me photographing those stupid palm trees? That was a waste of time.”

“Never mind all of that, this one will float your boat, shall we say? Besides, you do owe me since I broke it off with Susan for you. Rose’s mother! I was mortified! I want your input with this one anyway. Do this favour for me, please.”

John sighed, huffing loudly so Edith would hear him on the other end of the call. It was true, he definitely did owe her, he’d hold his hands up. He had been lonely recently so Edith had practically thrown him at Susan MacClare, her father’s cousin. Unfortunately, woman had, to put it bluntly, been an insufferable, miserable cow. She’d recently divorced her husband (John wished he could buy the bloke a pint) and he did feel terrible for calling it quits so soon but what else was he to do? After the second date, he was ready to throw himself in front of a bus.

In his moment of cowardice, Edith had relented to his nagging and broke up with Susan misery-guts for him.

On that thought, John finally caved.

“Fine,” he said bitterly. “Email me the details and I’ll shift some things in my calendar.”

An email came through straight away, a notification popping up on his phone screen.

“You're a star! This will be perfect for you, I promise! You've always loved the wackier shoots.” Edith chirped. “See you on Monday, John. Thanks again!”

John could picture her sporting a smug grin as he ended the call. She was lucky he was so fond of her.

Opening his Gmail app, he read through Edith’s email. It was (irritatingly) short, including only a time and place. Normally Edith liked to torment him when they spoke on the phone but today she had kept their conversation brief. Perhaps this was the reason why. The limited details provided gave nothing away and the short call had given him less opportunity to badger her for more information. She wasn’t normally so mysterious.

“What are you up to, girl?” He wondered. If he was going to assisting her with a _wackier_ shoot, he would find a way to make her pay.

Once on a previous job, John had felt the urge to cause mischief. It happened occasionally; he didn’t like to be serious all of the time. The theme of the shoot had been ‘fairground’ and there had been lots of pastel coloured balloons floating about the studio. By ‘accident’, John had popped a couple just as Edith prepared to take a photo which caused her to jump in fright. His antics had been childish, but funny.

His phone suddenly vibrated in his hand as a text popped up.

 

_Make sure you DO come on Monday, John. No excuses. No exceptions._

_E x_

 

She’d successfully garnered interest and intrigue, he'd give her that. This job better be fucking worth the drama.


	2. The Shoot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John rocks up for the mysterious photo shoot he knows nothing about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is even happening in this story?  
> Fuck knows.
> 
> Ride the snake, friend. Ride the snake.

“You have reached your destination.”

“Cheers Siri,” John muttered sarcastically, his words muffled by the cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth.

He let the remainder of his fag slip from his lips and fall to the pavement. Snubbing it out with his shoe, he glanced at the unimposing building. Edith had rented a makeshift studio in Shoreditch for the day and the building certainly had something of an ‘arty’ feel. It was likely considered to be trendy with its high arched windows and pale bricks. It certainly looked big enough to house a studio and John had checked the address three times to make sure he was standing outside the right place. Siri led him here and she was rarely wrong thanks to the clever bastards at Apple. With a half-hearted shrug, he pressed the buzzer next to the front door.

A text from Edith popped up on his phone:

 

_Just a tick – I’ll be down in a min_

_E x_

 

Tutting impatiently, he adjusted his bag straps and waited. Inside his large rucksack were two cameras, his favourite tripod, a fold-up light box, his trusty laptop and a hard drive – all the usual gear. Since Edith had conveniently given him very few details about what he might need, he had decided to play it safe and bring only the basics. If they required anything else, they would have to borrow equipment or source it themselves.

“Good morning!” Edith greeted him cheerfully as she opened the door. She glanced downwards at his outfit and chided, “Oh John, could you not have worn something a tad smarter?”

John blinked and looked down at himself. He was wearing black trainers, dark trousers, a comfortable grey t-shirt and a waterproof jacket. He saw no problem.

“Was I meant to turn up in a three-piece suit? I’m afraid I didn’t receive the memo,” he drawled, raising a brow contemptuously.

Edith rolled her eyes and ushered him inside. To his surprise, she handed him a coffee from Toto’s Cafe. John stared at the paper cup, wondering why Edith felt she needed to ply him with caffeine.

As though having read his mind, she shrugged her shoulders and said, “I thought I’d treat you,” before ushering him down a narrow hallway. John smiled at the back of her head fondly and sipped his warm beverage. The coffee was good.

When they reached a staircase, Edith led him upstairs to a large, open planned studio. A dividing wall had been placed between a makeshift living room and a bedroom. It was all clearly staged, but the fake rooms still managed to feel homely and strangely natural. Both spaces were open and airy, mostly draped in whites and neutral earthy tones; very on-trend. John liked it. In the bedroom area, a few assistants were setting up lights and adjusting the bed covers.

Feeling a little out of place, John waited for Edith to introduce him.

“Ladies and gents, our photographer has arrived,” she called to the rest of the team.

“Hi,” greeted a handsome young man. His voice had a hint of a Jamaican accent and he appeared to be the head producer as he was holding a clipboard, and seemed to have been giving instructions to the others when John and Edith had walked in.

“Good morning,” John replied, offering the man a polite smile.

The man walked over to John and reached out to shake his hand.

“I’m Damani,” he said pleasantly. He eyed John’s coffee cup enviously and added, “your coffee smells amazing by the way.”

“It’s good coffee.”

Damani grinned before turning his attention back to the rest of the team who were watching them intently from across the room. “Over there we have Chris,” he said, pointing towards a tall, bearded man, “one of our prop stylists. Give us a wave, Chris!”

“Hello!” Chris called, waving enthusiastically. He had a Scottish accent and looked to be in his late thirties.

“To the right is Danielle, our set designer. She’s a great lady – very professional. You can always count on her,” babbled Damani.

An attractive middle-aged woman smiled as she walked over to greet John. When she reached him, she also shook John’s hand.

“Pleasure to meet you,” she said in a crisp, clear voice. She was definitely a Southerner and likely came from money as her accent was naturally posh, similar to Edith’s. “I’ve seen your work, John. It’s very impressive. I’ve been following your career for a few years, actually.”

“Really?” John said, surprised to hear that he had a fan.

“Oh yes,” she nodded enthusiastically. “I’ve been looking forward to this project for a while now. Has Edith told you much about today’s shoot? She said she was sparing you a few details.”

John nodded and held his hands up. “I know nothing. I was only given a time and a location.”

“It’s a surprise then,” she shrugged, offering him a coy smile.

“We’ll all have fun!” Damani chirped, clapping his hands in excitement.

Suddenly, a young woman appeared at John’s side. She offered him a smile and held out her hand to greet him.

“This is Pamela,” said Damani, extending his arm to invite her into the group. “She is my right-hand person, our assistant producer.”

“And she is fantastic,” praised Danielle, smiling warmly at the young woman.

As she shook John’s hand, Pamela tilted her head in Damani’s direction and joked, “I just do whatever he tells me to.”

Everyone laughed but before the rest of the team could be introduced, Edith hurried over and warned, “Guys, we are on a tight schedule so the rest of the introductions will have to wait. You can all have a chat during lunch.”

“No rest for the wicked,” Darmani teased, nudging Edith gently with his elbow.

The corners of Edith’s lips twitched but she managed to keep a straight face. “Alright,” she said, “I told you all that John works a little differently to most photographers. Once everything is set up, we’re all going to back off and give him space so he can get to work.”

“Will I be working with any assistant photographers?” John interrupted. He wouldn’t be particularly bothered if there were as he wasn’t certain of the scale of the shoot, but he preferred to work alone. By the look of the setup, it was fairly small so he alone should suffice.

“No, just you,” said Edith. “We have everyone else here on hand and there will only be one model, so I didn’t think that we would need a photo assistant. Any tweaks can be made in editing and we trust your judgement on the logistics.”

John snorted softly and drawled, “why thank you.”

Edith swatted his arm playfully and took a step back to address the room.

“Okay everyone, let’s finish setting everything up so we can bring in Thomas.”

“Is he nearly ready?” asked Pamela as she glanced towards the right.

“I think Linnéa is fitting him into the first outfit,” called out one of the other assistants from across the room.

“Okay, that’s fine,” Edith shrugged. “Could you quickly check on them, Pam? See how long they will be? I just need to make a quick call so Damani, make sure everything will be ready in ten minutes, please.”

“We’ll be ready in five,” Damani assured her. “We’re pretty much sorted.”

Edith grinned and patted his cheek. “You’re a star.”

Chuckling, the young man swatted her hand away and hurried over to the bedroom setup. Whilst he handed out last minute instructions and made final checks, Danielle lead John over to a small seating area where various bags and coats were scatted around the furniture. There was a small white fridge behind the table, along with a sink and a few cabinets.

“You can pop your coat down here,” she said in a gentle voice, indicating towards the table with a wave of her hand. “There’s still space in the fridge if you’ve brought any food with you. Once you’re settled, you can speak with Damani about setting up your camera. Thomas shouldn’t be too much longer, then you’ll be able to get going.”

“Thanks,” said John, offering her an easy smile. “I assume Thomas is our model?”

“Yes,” Danielle nodded. “His name is Thomas Barrow. He popped up out of the blue a year or so ago. He hails from Manchester, but moved to London a couple of years ago with a family member when he was sixteen. He was scouted around that time and was mostly involved with bits and pieces of catalogue work and amateur student gigs before he was chosen to model for the Autumn 2016 Marks & Spencer’s catalogue. He’s also worked for Topman. He’s beginning to make a name for himself and has gained a large following on Instagram, which led to him being signed with Nevs Model Agency a few months ago.”

“Nevs?” John marvelled, raising his eyebrows in interest. “Not bad for a new kid on the block.”

Danielle quickly glanced around before leaning closer to whisper, “I know Storm have taken an interest and that there are a lot of eyes on him at the moment, so Nevs will be desperate to keep him. I’ve heard through the grapevine that he’s going to a casting for Burberry and Paul Smith next month.”

John gave a low whistle, impressed. It was very difficult for models to get noticed in London, especially if they have little professional working experience and few connections. John was surprised to hear that the unknown model had managed to catch the eye of Storm Model Management so quickly. Upon seeing his reaction, Danielle smiled softly and folded her arms across her chest.

“I know, it’s impressive,” she said. “He could be the next big thing.”

“They say that about all the good new comers,” John noted, feeling a twinge of guilt for pouring cold water over the situation. Sadly, it was a harsh reality.

“That’s very true,” Danielle agreed, “I have to say though, I think this one is special. He could go all the way.”

“I suppose we’ll just have to see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a tease.  
> He'll meet Thomas next time, I promise.


End file.
